Buffalo Chicken... Nuggets?

Any one who has a child under the age of 10 in the house will probably have an endless supply of frozen chicken nuggets in your freezer. I know I do. I also know that they are a "go to" meal when I am tired or (more likely) haven't thought about what to make for dinner that night.

Last week I found myself in that very predicament. I was tired and I hadn't thought about what I wanted for dinner and it was too late to thaw real meat. I googled 'different ways to cook chicken nuggets' and found the following recipe.

Cook about 20 nuggets according to the package.

Put a half a stick of butter and a heaping teaspoon of finely diced garlic in a microwave safe bowl and melt the butter. If you don't have diced garlic, you can use garlic powder. Only use a half a teaspoon if you are using garlic powder. Add hot sauce to your taste, Christian likes ALOT. Mix well. I put the chicken nuggets in a bowl and pour the garlic butter over them, stir to coat the chicken and serve.

Christian loves this! I only found this last week and have made it twice. Once I made it with fried rice and stir-fried veggies. Very good. The second time we just had it as a snack late one night with blue cheese dressing. Also very good.

Even if your kids don't like the spice, you can serve them the nuggets "traditionally" and the adults can have the grown-up version. This is also a good wing alternative if you are running low on funds.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome. Let me know if you have any ideas to make this recipe better. Happy cooking!!

The Domestic Executive's Daily Planner

**I am going to attempt to explain this idea in writing. If I hear from many of you that I didn't explain the concept well enough, then I will do this in video form. So please tell me if you would like to see this on video, many people understand things better if they can see it.**

I am a box checker. I am also the person who could waste away the day on the couch watching T.V. or in front of the computer only to realize, at 6 PM, that nothing has gotten done and no dinner ready for my hungry men. And then there are just the things that I forget to do, like dust the blinds and wash the baseboards.

I was wandering around on a website and ran into the concept of the daily planner. I fell in love with it immediately. It consists of pages that are printed everyday with your personal schedule of chores that you check off once done, thus appealing to the box checker part of my brain. It includes things like; Bible study, making beds, lunch, dinner, load of laundry etc. These are things that should be done everyday and honestly, if I didn't have some of them written down, I wouldn't do them. One of my daily chores is to refill the ice trays. I am always forgetting to do this, dinner time rolls around and I have a freshly brewed pitcher of sweet tea and no ice to cool it with.

The planner also includes a list of weekly chores, monthly chores, bi-annual and quarterly chores. Weekly chores are things like mopping, scrubbing toilets... and you get the idea. The same with monthly and quarterly chores, things that need to be done, just not on a weekly basis.

I was not, however, a fan of printing one page each day. It is a big waste of time and resources, not to mention, I would forget to print it and that would be the end of my planner. I read that one mom took her daily chore list to Kinkos to have it laminated. Since I'm too cheap to do that, I devised my own solution. I printed it and bought page protectors and a few dry erase markers (I like the various colors). Every night I erase my day away and start anew each morning. I love it!!

I also have my weekly chore list in a page protector. Because Christian doesn't always have the same days off every week, I plan my weekly chores around him in order to make the most of his days off. I simply printed a blank 7 day calendar and every week I put Christian's work schedule on it and then plan which days I want to do which weekly and monthly chores and write it under that day. At the end of the week I wipe it clean and start again. Most of you could print one schedule and keep it for a while, not having to re-arrange your chores every week.

I have also made pockets for coupons I want to use that week and recipes I'd like to try that week.

You can visit http://moneysavingmom.com/downloads/household-management-forms to get the forms. You can completely customize everything. I suggest making sure you put chores on your list that you would forget to do otherwise. It's so much fun to check off the boxes. =)

I am including pictures of my forms and book. And like I said, I am more than willing to do this again in video form.

Here is the cover of my book. I Just played with it and made it fun. I picked a picture of a happy homemaker for the uplifting that I hope it will give me... so far it's worked. =)

I know this is kind of small, I'm still trying to figure out how to do all of this stuff. I can use any advice on how to make the blog as a whole better as well. This is my daily chore chart. I have sections for things to do, I need to buy some rice. Sections for dates to remember,our menu for the day, how God has spoken to me that day, a verse of the week and special things to pray for. Oh, and my neat little boxes to check after each chore and little glasses to color in after I drink water.

This is my weekly chore chart. Like I told you, I just printed a blank 7 day calendar off of Google. Each week I write in Christian's work schedule and then decide which days I want to do what chores and then write them in with my dry erase marker.

My monthly and semi annual chores. Most of them have been done in March, but I started this at the end of the month so not a lot of time to get them all done.

So, I hope this will help make your Executive duties a little easier to remember. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. This little book has made the last few weeks so much easier--especially when I want a cold drink and there is ice. As always suggestions on improvements are always welcome.

Cathy.

The New Andrea Blogs

It has been a long time since I have posted anything-- ok long time is an understatement. When I started the blog I wasn't really sure what I wanted to write about, it was just the ramblings of me and not really interesting. I wanted a theme to my posts and I wanted my posts to mean something.

Lately I have discovered a longing to help women become better moms, wives, housekeepers and book keepers. Basically, to help women become better stewards of the things God has entrusted us with--everything!

For the past two years I have had and energy to tell people how to become better stewards of God's money. If you have had a conversation with me at any point during the past two and a half years, then most likely we have talked about money and I have told you about Dave Ramsey and have sung the praises of his course, Financial Peace University. More recently our church has offered a class called Effective Parenting in a Defective World, that my husband and I are facilitating. I am sure to say the word facilitating because out of all the parents in the class, Christian and I have the least experience, we just happen to be the leaders of the small group offering the class. Anyway, all that just to say this, during the second or third Sunday of this class I was sitting there going "This is what I like doing."

I just want to tell people (mainly moms) the tips I am learning about how to maximize our time as a Domestic Executive. Do you like my new term for stay-at-home mom? I thought it was clever.

I want this blog to contain all the tips and recipes I come across to make the job of Domestic Executive a little easier as well as some of the things that God tells me during my alone time with Him and in His word. So just a little explanation of what is going to be happening here in the Andrea Blogs.

I hope you don't get bored, no hard feelings if you do. =)

May God bless you and your family,

Cathy

coupon tips

Ok, so some of you have asked how I save money at the grocery store. Here is what I have learned so far. I do have to say up front that these are not my ideas, I've learned these from family, friends and several helpful websites.

The easiest way to save money is to shop at a store that will offer Buy one get one free deals, my personal favorite is Publix. If you only buy items that are B1G1, you already save 50%.

Another trick is to make your weekly menu based on the things that are on sale. If you see pork chops are on sale this week, eat pork chops. Buy your snack foods according to what is on sale. Last week, cookies were on sale, so we ate cookies for a treat, this week it's ice cream.

Here are some coupon clipping tips:

Buy a newspaper and keep the ads, get ads from friends and family members. Normally, you will get 3 sections of coupons in your Sunday paper; Redplum, Smart Source and P&G. What I do is put all of the same sections together and write the date on the front and I file them in a (81/2 by 11) expandable file folder. Some people clip all of the coupons and file them in a coupon size expandable file folder with 12 tabs (toiletries, cleaning, cans/box, condiments, cereal/breakfast, baby, snack/dessert, drugs, paper, frozen, refrigerated, and other.) I tried this but found myself sifting through a ton of coupons just to find one, it takes a lot of time. Other people do clip every coupon but use baseball card plastic sleeves to organise coupons.

You may want to pick a way and try it, to see if it works for you.

Another place to find coupons is in the store. Many stores will have store coupons in the store. Also, there are blinkies. You know these, they are the ones you used to stand in front of as a kid just to watch the coupons pop out. There are tear pads, these are pads of coupons and you tear a coupon off, a genius name huh? You can also find coupons on certain items themselves.

The best way to maximise your money it to find good deals at your favorite store and match them with coupons the website www.southernsavers.com will help you do this. They will give you all of the sales of a VAST amount of stores and tell you what coupons match those sales and where to find those coupons. They also have a wealth of information about coupon policies, how to use customer reward cards and so many more tips on how to get the most out of your coupons. The best part is the website is free!

Another good tip is when you find a good deal on something, buy up. I have learned that sales go in 6 week cycles. So buy enough to last you about 6 weeks. I am learning that there is almost always some kind of cereal on sale. So instead of stocking up on one kind of cereal, I buy about 3 boxes of what ever is on sale. In two weeks that cereal is gone so I buy what ever other cereal is on sale. However, oatmeal goes on sale about every 6 weeks so I buy enough to last 6 weeks.

There are some items that rarely or never go on sale: fresh produce, milk, bread and such. These items you will just have to pay full price for. Also, you may run out of an item before it goes on sale, if it a food item that you can live without until it goes on sale then wait for it. If this is an item that you need (toilet paper, paper towels or other personal items) you will have to bite the bullet and buy it at full price.

Also, don't be brand loyal. Everyone has those certain brands of food that they would rather have, but you will save money if you learn to use any brand of mayo or peanut butter. Buy the brand that is on sale.

The hardest part for me to learn is that there are some deals you will have to miss. PLEASE, PLEASE don't go over your budget just because you see a great deal that you just have to have. I budget for food on a two-week cycle so my problem is shopping during the first week and then not having money to take advantage of deals the second week. My two choices are: only spending half of my money during week one or just understanding that I will have to miss out on some deals during week two. I usually just make myself NOT look at any ads during week two.

Ok, I am going to tell you what I understand about Publix coupon policy, this is for Florida (some states differ in policy) and this is only Publix because I haven't looked into other stores very much. I have NOT found any stores in Florida that will double or triple coupons, if you know of some, please let me know.

Publix (in Florida) will NOT double or triple a coupon. In some states they will double a coupon if its under $1 ( I think.)

You can use two coupons when you buy one get one.

If there is a buy 3 for $5, you do NOT have to buy 3 to get the price.

You are allowed to stack coupons. This means you can use ONE manufacturer coupon, ONE Publix coupon and ONE competitor coupon to buy ONE item.

They do accept competitors coupons. Please know this is a courtesy, they will NOT get this money back so use ONE competitor coupon per item.

That's all I have for now, I would love to hear your success stories. Like I said, you can visit www.southernsavers.com. They have the coupon policies for other stores and a boat load of tips for maximising your coupons and grocery money.

One last thing, I've only been doing this for about 6 weeks and so far I spend the same as I always have, I just get MORE groceries for my money. I will be happy to answer any questions I can. If I can't I'll help you find the answer. Good luck and happy shopping!

Cathy

Do we EXPECT God to bless us?

It has been quite a while since I have written anything. I really wanted to share something that crossed my mind today.

Do we have a right to expect anything from God? I mean God has promised us ONE thing, eternal life, if we believe in Jesus. We are underserving of even that.

Do we have the right to expect anything else from Him? What I mean is, do we live our lives for God expecting Him to bless us? Or do we live for God purely because we love Him and want to honor Him? It is a tough question. Most of us know what we want the answer to be but we don't know our own motives. I know what I want my answer to be, but somehow fleshly desires creep in and Satan whispers in my ear 'You are doing good and your God isn't rewarding you. Hmmmm. Look and see how other people have blessings (money mostly) and they don't believe in God, would He really bless them and not you?' Satan is so very devious.

Sometimes I do feel like I deserve to be rewarded from God. "Ok God, I am doing what you want me to do, now You should bless me."

Our society doesn"t help much either. The U.S. is a very self-centered, greedy society and we all feel like we deserve something for a job well done and that naturally runs over into our spiritual lives. We do well at work and ask for a raise or get a promotion. We eat right and excercise and we naturally look better. We are taught that we are rewarded for a job well done. Not only do we expect our reward, we expect it now.

I feel like the dinner guest who went to the party expecting to be in the seat of honor and then disgraced by being placed at the end of the table. Meaning I do something expecting the reward or praise and am embarrassed when I am "looked over." I often forget that story because I am focused on the 3 stewards. One given five bags of gold, one two bags and the last one bag. The first two men invested the money given to them and multiplied the money for their master and were given more money and responsibilities. The man who was given one bag was afraid to loose the money so he hid it. The master was angry with him and took the money and his job from him. The point is that I feel like I am doing what God wants me to do; using money, time and talents for Him but even so He takes away the fruit of my efforts.

The more I thought about this on my commute this morning the more God brought to my attention how blessed I am. I think I am looking for tangible blessings, such as; more money, a better job for Christian, to own a house and so on. God let me know that He has blessed me. My family is healthy, my son is strong even tho he very well could not be, Christian and I have a great relationship and I could go on and on.

Father, change my attitude. Let me serve You because I love you and I want to. Help me to not expect anything in return other than what You have promised me, eternal life with You. As David prayed, Father, cleanse my heart of all impurities. Rid me of myself, for the Holy Spirit cannot dwell with flesh. Break my heart for what breaks Yours. God, lead my to the cross.

Pride

Here is a project I would like to take on. Some questions I would like to answer and hear your imput as well.

1. Is there such a thing as Biblical/healthy pride?
2. Is self confidence different than pride?
3. If the anwer to #2 is yes then when does self-confidence turn into pride?

Is it ok to feel like you have done a good job when you are finished? Is it ok to feel like you are good at something? If it is ok, when does it turn into a bad thing? How do you keep it in check to make sure you don't cross the line? I know that Satan uses pride and I have a feeling that this weapon of his is easily accessible to him.
I an rather excited about researching this topic. I rarely do topical Bible studies. I usually pick a book of the Bible and read it thru and unfortunately I sometimes don't remember a thing I have read.
I will keep you updated on my findings.

writing

I'm unhappy. Well, not unhappy- just unsatisfied. I feel like I can do more-need to do more. I have always wanted to write. To be an author and have people read the things I write. I have recently had to examine my motives. Do I want to do this in order for people to see MY work and compliment me on the things I write or do I want to people to see God at work in my life? I still don't have an answer to that question. I know what I WANT the answer to be.

Every time I embark on a writing project I hit a wall, and the wall usually comes pretty close to the beginning of the project. I try to write about my own life and it's not nearly interesting enough for literary composition. I try to write fiction, I guess I don't have a great imagination. I have even tried to write a Bible story from the main character's point of view. Maybe I tried too hard to get into her head. Maybe I try too hard to make it perfect. Then I read the things someone else has written and think to myself, why even try to write my own when he or she has put so eloquently into words the same things I want to say.

So, I guess only time will tell if I have anything interesting enough for my friends (and strangers) to read. Only time will tell if I have anything at all to write.

I hope that some of the things I write will let you know of God's awesome love for you.

I won't blame you at all if you get bored reading this. I probablly (how do you spell that word?) any way, I wont even know if you don't read this.

So, there you have it.